Well, Tim Russert really outdid himself today with an all-star line up of Media Whores for his media panel --
Gwen Ifill -- close friend of Kinda Sleazy Rice and shameless Republican apologist.
Judy Woodruff -- shameless Republican apologist.
David Broder -- "Dean" of the Washington press corps, who never says anything of importance.
John Harwood -- reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Need I say more?
This is NBC's concept of a "balanced" media panel. Three right-leaning reporters and the Dean of the Media Whores. Would it be too much to ask to have someone like Paul Krugman, Maureen Dowd, or a crack investigative reporter from the New York Times or the Washington Post?
The media panel discussion was enough to puke a buzzard off a gut wagon. They started by discussing Howard Dean and Hillary Clinton. There was a non-stop love fest of snarky, sniping remarks about Dean and Clinton. When the subject turned to George Bush, they fellated El Presidente continuously, except when they were osculating his gluteus maximus.
There was one awkward moment, when Hillary was quoted castigating the press for not critically covering the Bush Administration --
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8130648/
MR. RUSSERT: Here's one thing she did say about the press corps, John Harwood: "Abetting the Republicans, [Senator Clinton] said in some of her sharpest language, is a Washington press corps that has become a pale imitation of the Watergate-era reporters who are being celebrated this month" among "the identification of the anonymous Washington Post source, Deep Throat. `The press is missing in action, with all due respect. Where are the investigative reporters today? Why aren't they asking the hard questions? It's shocking when you see how easily they fold in the media today. They don't stand their ground. If they're criticized by the White House, they just fall apart. I mean, come on, toughen up, guys, it's only our Constitution and country at stake. Let's get some spine.'"
You could sense the embarrassment among the panelists, as though someone had just let a smelly, silent fart. But John Harwood, who proved himself the king of chutzpah with his answer, had a retort --
MR. JOHN HARWOOD: I'm sure glad she added "with all due respect" to that statement. Look, people in politics, when their point of view is not prevailing, tend to get frustrated with the messenger. I don't think anybody can say that throughout the 2004 campaign that the faults of the Bush administration were not front and center in that campaign, even the issue that we've been talking about recently, the Downing Street memo, the whole issue about whether intelligence was fixed to support the Iraq War. That was substantially what the 2004 campaign was about: Did we rush to war? That was part of John Kerry's argument. So the flaws of the administration, its penchant for trying to consolidate power, its penchant for secrecy in some ways is something that's been out in front of the American people, but Democrats have been on the short side.
OMFG! He cites the Downing Street Memorandum as an example of the tough coverage of the Bush Administration by the mainstream media. Unfuckingbelievable! I guess he didn't notice that there was an almost total media blackout on the DSM for over a month.
Now that the DSM has broken through into the mainstream media, I guess they are all going to now start pretending that they were on the story from the very beginning. I guess they will just ignore the fact that they ignored the story for over a month.
I am sure you are aware that Media Whore Number One, Tim Russert, referred to the "famous" Downing Street Memorandum on a previous show. That reference marked the first time the DSM had been mentioned on NBC. Anyone who relied solely on NBC for their news probably thought -- Famous? I've never heard of it.
If you watch MSM shows like Meet the Press, it is obvious that the Media Whores are thoroughly intimidated by the Bush Crime Family, even though Bush's poll numbers have tanked. I am deeply concerned by this situation, as I am sure you are.
William Coleman